Clothes manipulating tool



March 28, 1939. v 3 BR N 2,152,530

CLOTHES MANIPULATING TOOL Filed June 10, 1958 Patented Mar. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 10,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to instruments or tools used in manipulating clothes which are to be delivered to a wringer.

An object of the invention is to provide novel means for limiting the movement of the tool with respect to the wringer rollers in order that the tool may not be gripped by the rollers and drawn between them.

It is a further object of the invention to provide novel means which will facilitate the handling of clothes when taken from a boiler, in order that the hands of the operator may not be injured by coming in contact with the heated clothes or water, or the liability of the hands being crushed by the wringer.

It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a clothes manipulating instrumentality which will support the clothes so that they may be grasped by the rollers during their rotation,

a condition which will result in drawing the clothes from the jaws of the tool in order that the operation may be repeated.

It is a still further object of the invention, in a more specific sense, to provide a tool having coacting jaws, one of which is longer than the other, the longer jaw being intended to present the clothes between the rollers, whereas the other jaw will be arrested by its engagement with one of the rollers, so that the instrument will have a limited movement with respect to the rollers.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to provide a clothes handling or manipulating instrumentality comprising few, inexpensive parts which will prove efficient and satisfactory in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 illustrates a view in elevation of a frame of a wringer with the rollers mounted thereon, the manipulating device being shown in elevation, partly in section;

Figure 2 illustrates a top plan view of the said 5 implement;

Figure 3 illustrates an end view thereof;

Figure 4 illustrates a detail view showing a modified structure of the short jaw; and

Figure 5 illustrates a short jaw embodying an- 55 other modification.

1938, Serial No. 213,055

In this drawing 5 and 6 denote the wringer rollers in association with which the tool is used.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the tool comprises pivotally connected handles 1 and 8 and beyond the pivot 9 of the handles the handle 8 terminates in a jaw [0 which is intended to remove clothes from a container such as a boiler or the like, and preferably, the clothes are bunched near the outer end of the said jaw in order that the rollers will be able to grasp the clothes during the wringing operation. The jaw l I, which is shorter than the jaw Ill, is preferably integral with the handle 8 and its outer end is provided with an elongated bevel or shoulder l2 which will contact the roller, should there be any tendency of the rollers to grip the lower jaw and exert a pull on it.

Suitable means may be provided for holding the jaws normally apart, such means being shown as comprising a spring l3 having ends located in channels such as 14 of the handles, and in order 7 to retain the springs in place, the sides of the channels may be provided with a lug such as l5, spaced from the upper wall of the channel sufficiently to form a clearance for the insertion of the springs in their seats. This is a cheap and inexpensive construction and will function satisfactorily. Of course other means may be provided for exerting pressure on the handle members, but this construction has been found satisfactory in use.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, two beveled shoulders I6 and H are provided, rising from the edges of the upper jaw, and this construction will afford more stable resistance to the pulling action of the rollers, if that should occur.

In Figure 5, the short jaw comprises a base member A and an overlying integral portion B, the said base member and overlying portion being integral with an upstanding end C which is bevelled so that it presents a smooth surface to be engaged by the roller. The base member has side flanges D that are secured to the edges of the overlying portion B in any appropriate manner, as by welding and the like, thus forming an enclosed jaw which Will perform the functions heretofore attributed to the other forms of the short jaw.

I claim:

A clothes manipulating tool comprising pivotally connected handles adapted for vertical movement when in operative positions, jaws forming extensions of said handles, the lower of said jaws when in operative position being longer than the other and adapted. to support clothes delivered to wringer rollers, the upper 01 said jaws when in operative position comprising a base portion with side flanges, the said side flanges having bevelled ends, said jaw also having a portion overlying the edges of the flanges and another portion engaging the inclined edges of the flanges to produce a smooth surface for engagement with a roll of the Wringer to limit the movement of the clothes-engaging portion of the tool with respect to said rollers. 

